Echoes
by of-Snowfall-and-Seagulls
Summary: Bella has always been different, peculiar- she has gifts no one could begin to guess at, save for the echoes she transcends worlds to speak with. But there are some who know what she is, and they will stop at nothing to find her. After all, sometimes when you hear a voice in your head, you have to talk back.
1. I: Sometimes the Voices Tell Stories

**Hello, you. That's right, you who have clicked on my story. This is a something based off my other sorta story, Broken Glass. (And by story, I mean how I entertained myself in the car last rode trip.) So yes, Broken Glass will probably NOT be continued. Anyway, here is the fruit of my labor: Echoes (!excited!). See y'all at the bottom!**

The first time I heard a dead person, I was six years old.

Even now, almost thirteen years later, I recall the day vividly. It was my first day of kindergarten, and was only slightly cloudy outside, a rare thing for Forks. Still, my mother Renee, always a worrier, had loaded me up with a cheap raincoat she had found at a secondhand store and a pair of bright red rubber rain boots. I had been so proud of those boots, eagerly pointing them out to all of my neighbors and any stranger we happened to pass.

My mother dropped me off on her way to work, kissed my cheek, and wished me luck. Looking back, I can see the cloud of worry that drifted over face before she hid it from me. As she drove away, I skipped happily into my new school, oblivious to the oncoming shift in my world.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully- coloring, naptime, a story read by the teacher, snacks. As we lined up to go outside, a nice girl I met named Angela waved to me. When the teacher finally opened the door, we all eagerly raced outside.

Too uncoordinated to play tag with the rest of the class, I wandered around aimlessly, looking for a spot to sit down and rest. The perfect place presented itself in the form of an old elm tree by the edge of the playground, barely touching the forest. I had just settled down against the spongy moss when I heard a faint whisper. Looking around hopefully for someone to talk to, I saw nothing. I shrugged and settled back down when I heard it again.

"_Isabella…" _it said from somewhere in the back of my head. "Bella." I thought, frowning. "My name is Bella." Even then, I hated my given name.

"_Ah, you can hear me." _the strange voice said again, sounding pleased. "_Most of your kind can't hear me until much later." _I should have been scared, or at the very least confused, to hear a voice that was not my own in my head. But, with the oblivious innocence of a child, I was curious about this odd new development.

"Of course I can hear you. It's my head, after all. What's your name?"

"_Aro, at your service."_ the voice said, smile evident in its tone.

"And what do mean, most of my kind?" I asked, annoyed. I didn't like to be singled out, and curiosity was the only reason I was talking to this irritating voice at all. After all, my young mind thought, who is he to come barging in and bothering me?

The voice, or Aro, as it wanted to be called, chuckled. It felt odd to have someone else laughing in my head, sort of like sticking a vibrating toothbrush in your mouth for too long. _"Others like you and your ancestors, of course." _Aro replied, still chuckling. I tilted my head, confused.

The laughter stopped. The voice seemed more cautious, and more confused, like me. _"You mean," _the voice said, even slower than it already talked, _"that this is your first trip into the Realm?"_

"What's the Realm?" I asked, becoming even more confused and a little scared, "Who are you? Is this one of Uncle Felix's mean tricks?"

"_Oh dear." _Aro said, sighing. _"This is my first new Shadow Walker. I've never done the orientation before."_

"Wha…" I began, trailing off when it began to speak.

"_Listen close, little one. This is important."_ Aro began. I closed my mouth, leaned into the tree, and shut my eyes.

The story Aro told was greater than all of the fairy tales in my books back home. He told of how two ancient wizards, wanting to continue educating their apprentices , known as the Order, even when they no longer walked the earth, formed a place in deep subconscious where powerful spirits, or echoes, would walk. They created an amulet, submerged in the essence of their souls, to be the key to this magical place, and gave it to their three apprentices to guard.

When the ancients departed this world, they flowed gracefully to the Realm, and continued to train the Order in the magical arts. But, as always happens, power began to corrupt the Order. The ancients taught the last true apprentice a rune that she was to use when the betrayal occurred. The rune was meant to break the amulet, allowing the key to the Realm to be destroyed, so that the corrupt apprentices would never be able to use it. But not all went to plan.

On Midsummer's Eve, a night of celebration throughout the magical world, the fallen apprentices' plot was put into action. While the guardian of the amulet was preparing for the night's festival ritual that the Order was expected to perform, the two men snuck into her tower and ambushed her. The epics say that a mightier battle there never was seen, nor would there ever be.

When all of her hope was lost, the guardian began to chant the rune. Her opponents recognized the old language, and, doing anything he could to prevent her from destroying the key, one threw a knife that slit her across the belly. She saw the blood gushing from her body and shrieked, but it was too late- the chant was completed. The amulet's power rushed into her, coursing through her veins.

Writhing and screaming, she was lifted into the air, black hair floating around her like a halo, her bloodied wound glowing. The shining opaque fluid flowed over her, healing all her wounds, mending any imperfections, _changing_ her. With a final shriek of agony, she fell to the ground. Her pursuers stood frozen, gaping at her. She picked herself up and stared at her hands, before toughened and scared from years of work, now smooth and white. Then, as if remembering what had happened before this dramatic change, she turned and fled as fast as she could, not stopping or even glancing over her shoulder until she was safe.

"_All of her descendents are Shadow Walkers. Depending on their gender, and how direct their bloodlines are to her, they can hear, and see, and sometimes even enter the Realm. She is your many times great- grandmother." _Aro concluded, finishing his tale.

I blinked, resurfacing from Aro's story. "You mean that all actually _happened_?" I asked, unable to wrap my head around this newly discovered world. "That woman was my lots of greats-grandmother?"

"_I would say so." _Aro mused_, "I've never heard of a Shadow Walker listening in the Realm at this age before. You must be a direct descendent."_

The teacher began to round all the children up- it was hard to believe this had happened in such a short amount of time. It seemed like it had been years since this morning, when the most interesting thing I had ever heard of were my red rain boots.

"_One more thing, little Bella." _Aro said softly. I nodded happily, ready to hear more about this new and exciting world. _"Echoes will seek you out now, everywhere you go." _I nodded again, nonplused. _"And every single one of them, including me, will be dead."_

My teacher found me clinging to the old elm tree and screaming.

**So? Like it? Love it? If you hated it, suck it up and review something else. (Although, I have been wanting to start a wall of shame…). Unbeta'd, so feel free to let me know if you see any problems. Should be updated about every weekend or so. **

**!HAPPY READING!**


	2. II: Thankfully I Am Not Sane or Normal

(_creeps in quietly) Hi there! Right, I know what you're thinking (if you are one of my treasured followers, or anyone really, I'm easily satisfied): You're alive!? You have access to the Internet!? Well, okay, I know I really kinda suck. It's been what, two years since I updated? So, so, so sorry about that. Other writing projects have taken over this one, as has, you know, my actual life. Anyway, I'm trying to continue writing this story, but the inspiration comes and goes, so... sorry. I have an entire (still short, working on it) chapter written for you! And I know a lot of the plot- just enough is missing to keep me interested in writing it- so the chapters should come a bit easier now. If you have any questions, comments, advice, corrections, etc. just let me know. Love you all, hope you enjoy!_

The wails pierce through the night, finding my ears just as easily though they were my own. My eyes fly open and I'm out of bed slinking through the darkness, winding my way through the sleeping house and out the back door. I walk softly towards the edge of the woods and plop down, take a deep breath, and close my eyes.

Let's back up a second- for normal people, upon hearing wails or screams or strange noises of any kind in the middle of the night, the opposite thing to do would be to head towards the woods. And for any sane person, closing your eyes would not be a good decision either.

Thankfully for the echoes, I am neither sane nor normal.

The wails aren't from this world, and neither are the visions I encounter after I hear them. They come from the Realm, a world that I've been a part of for almost as long as I can remember. A place where the dead spirits of my ancestors and other people with special abilities similar to mine go when they fade from this world and into the next. Whenever I hear an otherworldly wail in the earliest hours of the morning, I know it's time to do my duty as a Shadow Walker and use my ability to visit the Realm for some good.

Sometimes visions of the future strike, sometimes a trail leading to a missing person appears, and sometimes a troubled soul can use me to find peace. The forest is where I feel closest with the Realm, and using the forest as my base eases my journey and protects my body from danger while my spirit travels away from it. As I lift my shadow out of my body, the scent of the pines and the feel of the night-time breeze is the last thing I'm aware of before-

_I am stumbling blindly along the hazy path, passing throughout swirls of shimmering fog as fast as I dare. Clutched in my hands, so tightly that my knuckles turn white and seem to pop out of my fists, is an amulet. _The_ amulet. _

_As big around as my palm, it is crafted so delicately that the silver it's made of seems to flow like water, with a large opaque and shimmering stone resting in the center. I risk a glance over my shoulder, even though it won't be of any use. The predator pursuing me is almost invisible to my mortal eyes, even as enhanced by the Realm as they are. __Finally, I push my way through the seemingly unconquerable bank of fog. Purple mist still swirls at my feet, but with my torso free of the low hanging clouds, I feel less like a trapped animal. Which is ridiculous, of course. The echoes can always see me, are always waiting. _

_I run for the green forest just ahead of me. It would seem that it would be smarter to stay in the open, where there are less obstacles for my clumsy feet to trip over; still, the towering trees seem to offer protection, the safety and comfort and warmth of home._

_Reaching the edge of the woods, I all but throw myself into its waiting arms. Stumbling over roots sticking out and the kind of underbrush that only a very ancient forest can have, I rocket through the branches. _

_I hear no sound of my pursuers, and allow myself to relax. I take a deep breath, relieved this particular moment's danger is over. Wrong. A person drops from the tree right in front of me, landing smoothly on his feet. I freeze, and the feeling of being electrified hits me when I look at his face. All I can see is-_

_Bright green eyes._

My eyes force through the post-vision haze and my body snaps awake with a start. The wind chills my frame, drenched in cold sweat, as it wraps its way around me. I curl into a ball and let it cocoon me. The echoes stir dimly in the back of my mind, turning my shadow over like a worn stone to comfort me. I've had this dream on and off for weeks- running from an unforeseen enemy with the amulet from the legends clutched in my fists only to be caught from unawares at the last moment. The green eyes are new with tonight's chase, as are the startling feelings they bring with them. I've never felt so _alive_ in the Realm and yet so terrified at the same time.

At least with most visions that symbolize the future I can guess what might be coming. Before my mother went missing, I dreamed over and over again of myself chasing her through the ancient forests of the Realm, finally catching her only for her to disappear into thin air. Three weeks later, on a (too common) night when Charlie was working late at the station and I was camping with some friends, she went missing. Charlie came home to find their room ransacked, a panicked message that trailed off into nothing scribbled on a notepad, and my mother gone.

They searched for her for days, combing the woods and roads all throughout the surrounding states, but never found a trace.I refused to enter the Realm, sure that if I stopped visiting my mother would come back. After a week staying exclusively in this world, I missed Shadow Walking terribly. But I clung to the sliver of hope that I had left, desperately hoping that if I stayed away long enough, then she'd _have_ to come back. It wasn't until Aro sought me out and explained to me, as gently as was possible for him, that what I had seen was a prediction of what was to come, and that my mother was most likely gone for good.

On some level I suppose I accept that she's gone now, but the hopeful part of me, the part with the little girl on her first day of kindergarten that was innocent to the mystic world soon to be uncovered, knows that Renee's out there, somewhere. Until the time that we're reunited - the time that _has _to come, _must_ come- I turned to the echoes of the Realm for anything that mothers were supposed to do. Instead of facing the humiliation of talking to Charlie about my growing maturity, I turned to a maternal echo named Esme to help me stumble my way through it. She was often there in the back of my head when I got home from school, asking about my day and cheering me up when I did something to turn myself into the class freak again.

The echoes that have been there since the beginning, when I first started experimenting with my powers all those years ago, are like a sort of second-hand family to me now. Aro's the one who helped me learn to interpret the visions and control them, back when I was unable to shut out any echoes that came my way or overtake the pleas for help or visions of the future that commandeered me. Gradually I learned how to use them to find people lost- literally or spiritually- and communicate with spirits without them attempting to steal any last glimpse of life through me, even to wield the lavender mists of the Realm as a weapon against dangerous visions.

_This_ vision is different from the countless others, though. I've never felt so terrified and powerless in a visit to the Realm before, never been unable to interpret a vision's significance. There's a sinking familiarity with those green, green eyes that is totally foreign to me, and even stranger is that feeling of vitality that strikes me when I see them.

The forest around me begins to stir, like its trees are stretching out their limbs for the morning and their inhabitants are yawning their way awake, and I know my early morning excursion into the dream world is over- for now. I sigh and tiptoe my way back into the house. As usual, the sky is covered in a blanket of grey. At least it hasn't started raining yet, I tell myself consolingly. An awareness creeps into my mind, and then I hear a voice...

"'_Yet' is the key word in this sentence." _Aro murmurs.

I sigh my agreement and wait for him to add on; Aro rarely utters a wasted word. In his whispery voice he continues, "_I know you have something to ask of me, little one. You're thinking so loudly I would have heard you across _three_ realms." _

I snort my amusement as I move around the kitchen, fishing food out of the sparse cupboards for breakfast.

"You can complain all you want, I know you've been waiting for an excuse to visit me." I don't bother to whisper; Charlie sleeps so soundly this early he wouldn't notice if bears rammed their way into the house. Aro harrumphs in insulted agreement.

I chuckle and then quiet to share my latest excursion, "I keep having this vision, and it's completely different from anything I've encountered before- I'm not in control, I have no idea what it means, and there's this pair of eyes that paralyze me like I've just stuck my finger in an electrical socket. What's happening, Aro?"

He's quiet for a moment as he sorts through memories I pull up for him. When he finally speaks, his voice has a faint quiver, his chipper tone more somber than usual. _"Isabella, when I told you the history of the amulet, you will recall what I told you of the three apprentices, yes?"_

I nodded, frowning. "The power of the amulet corrupted two of them, so the ancient ones taught the last apprentice a rune to destroy the amulet so the corrupt apprentices would never be able to use its power, but they ambushed the last true apprentice. During their battle, the true apprentice was wounded before she finished chanting the rune, melding her blood with the amulet and changing her, which allowed her to escape."

Aro hummed his approval and continued on, _"Very good. But there was one facet of the story you have never heard- the fate of the fallen apprentices. You see, after your ancestor escaped them, they spent their entire lives trying to track her down and capture her so that they could finally take what was left of the amulet's powers for their own. She always managed to allude them, right up to the day they died, and ever since then their descendents have hunted hers. Just as your power was passed on to you by your ancestors, this quest for power has been passed through the generations. They have hunted your people for hundreds of years, and find more of them than not." _

He paused to give me a moment to let this new bit of my heritage sink in. I clutched at the counter to steady myself. Aro hesitated, then said gently, "_I have always suspected they were the ones that took your mother."_

The world went sideways. I inhaled deeply, squeezed my eyes shut, then blinked them open hard.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I meant to make my voice come out forceful and assertive, but it broke on the last word. I wrapped my arms around my sides tightly. "You _know_ how much I ache for her, you know how badly I want to know what happened! Why?"

His voice is remorseful but passionate as he answers, "_I knew that the moment I told you you'd want to go running off to find her, and you have no idea the repercussions! Isabella, you are one of the most powerful Shadow Walker the Realm has ever known- you may not have even realized the full extent of your powers yet. I am, however, truly sorry, and it is my deepest regret that your mother was taken from you and you cannot go after her."_

I could feel my blood flying through my veins and I nearly shouted, "Watch me! I can make my own decisions, I can find her, I know it!"

"_I know you can find her, Isabella. That was never what this is about."_

At this I stopped mid-rant and waited, expectant and seething.

"_The ones that stole your mother knew there was a Shadow Walker with extremely high potential in this area of the world, and they hunted that scent of power. Isabella…"_

He paused yet again, as if searching to see if I could handle another revelation. I raised my chin and put all the resolve I had into a single thought. "_Your mother knew they were coming for you. Your mother knew about every ounce of power you had and exactly when they would arrive to take you because she herself was a powerful Shadow Walker."_

My grip on myself slackened and I slid down against the counter. Of course she was. It was glaring obvious now, the truth so bluntly clear that I was a fool for not realizing. Her worried looks, like she was always waiting for an oncoming storm, her protective nature; Shadow Walking abilities are hereditary, for god's sake!

"_Little one, are you alright?" _I felt Aro's concern and understanding around my shoulders like a blanket and nodded, rising shakily to my feet.

"So the visions mean they found me again, don't they? That they're hunting for me as we speak, could be on their way to take me this very second?" Aro's voice was protective now. "_We don't know that for sure. But yes, as much as I despise the idea, it is probably true."_

"What are we going to do?" I whispered. "I won't let them take me." The simple truth of the statement sparked a burning certainty within me. I felt an alien sense of surety in my own abilities, my own power. "They will not lay a hand on me. And if they do, I will destroy them." A dangerous smile unfurled its way across my face. "Now, Aro, I believe we have some planning to do."


End file.
